I agree with Moonstruck. The fact that people have wrongly predicted Nadal's demise don't mean that those predictions were irrational-on the contrary they were entirely rational even though they've turned out to be wrong, in that narrow sense.What people who came to that conclusion about Nadals short career failed to anticipate or incorporate into their thinking was Nadal's exceptional ability to withstand his punishing approach-this is unprecedented. The question is can Nadal continue to play at a level he has and extend the perceived boundaries of what is considered exceptional even further, and it's still rational to assume he can't. He's clearly suffering because of the way he plays, and even his body has to give up sometime.

That seems to explain it quite nicely.Let's see how much longer he can endure the pain.

Seems as though I read somewhere about his training involving exactly that 'endurance of pain'.Guess he better train a bit harder. It's only going to get worse.

I agree with Moonstruck. The fact that people have wrongly predicted Nadal's demise don't mean that those predictions were irrational-on the contrary they were entirely rational even though they've turned out to be wrong, in that narrow sense.What people who came to that conclusion about Nadals short career failed to anticipate or incorporate into their thinking was Nadal's exceptional ability to withstand his punishing approach-this is unprecedented. The question is can Nadal continue to play at a level he has and extend the perceived boundaries of what is considered exceptional even further, and it's still rational to assume he can't. He's clearly suffering because of the way he plays, and even his body has to give up sometime.

That seems to explain it quite nicely.Let's see how much longer he can endure the pain.

Seems as though I read somewhere about his training involving exactly that 'endurance of pain'.Guess he better train a bit harder. It's only going to get worse.

I agree with Moonstruck. The fact that people have wrongly predicted Nadal's demise don't mean that those predictions were irrational-on the contrary they were entirely rational even though they've turned out to be wrong, in that narrow sense.What people who came to that conclusion about Nadals short career failed to anticipate or incorporate into their thinking was Nadal's exceptional ability to withstand his punishing approach-this is unprecedented. The question is can Nadal continue to play at a level he has and extend the perceived boundaries of what is considered exceptional even further, and it's still rational to assume he can't. He's clearly suffering because of the way he plays, and even his body has to give up sometime.

That seems to explain it quite nicely.Let's see how much longer he can endure the pain.

Seems as though I read somewhere about his training involving exactly that 'endurance of pain'.Guess he better train a bit harder. It's only going to get worse.

That explains it - he's a masochist.

Actually, that's part of his training. Similar to the tactics used to train David Ferrer, being locked in a dark closet for hours on end.Apparently these methods work far better than those employed by the USTA.

I agree with Moonstruck. The fact that people have wrongly predicted Nadal's demise don't mean that those predictions were irrational-on the contrary they were entirely rational even though they've turned out to be wrong, in that narrow sense.What people who came to that conclusion about Nadals short career failed to anticipate or incorporate into their thinking was Nadal's exceptional ability to withstand his punishing approach-this is unprecedented. The question is can Nadal continue to play at a level he has and extend the perceived boundaries of what is considered exceptional even further, and it's still rational to assume he can't. He's clearly suffering because of the way he plays, and even his body has to give up sometime.

That seems to explain it quite nicely.Let's see how much longer he can endure the pain.

Seems as though I read somewhere about his training involving exactly that 'endurance of pain'.Guess he better train a bit harder. It's only going to get worse.

That explains it - he's a masochist.

Actually, that's part of his training. Similar to the tactics used to train David Ferrer, being locked in a dark closet for hours on end.Apparently these methods work far better than those employed by the USTA.

General Strategy: Forget the Australian Open, even though it has been a successful tournament for him. That Slam hard court is just too slow, favoring longer games and matches, and will strain his knees even more right at the start. Instead Start on clay in South America and stay on the clay as much as possible in the first half of the year and only play as many hard courts as necessary the rest of the year. Skip or exit early from all required masters not mentioned below and refrain from playing exhibitions unless on clay.

The things is, Nadal doesn't give a crap if he blows out his knees for the rest of his life. He's way too determined and competitive, and he loves the sport too much. He's had tendinitis multiple times, and all he does is let it heal, and get right back to what he does best: slaughter people on the tennis court. He's not going to quit until his knees are literally shattered. Plus, he's shown he's good at bouncing back from injuries. Look at 2009. Early exit from RG, skipped Wimbledon and many hard court tournaments before the USO. Then he went on to win 3 of the 4 slams in 2010. He's good at shrugging off injuries and playing through the pain. He's had the injury that's keeping him out now since Indian Wells when he lost to Fed. But he didn't care. The clay court season was coming up, and he was sure as heck not going to sit out of it or Wimbledon. So he pushed himself until it finally caught up with him against Rosol.

The things is, Nadal doesn't give a crap if he blows out his knees for the rest of his life. He's way too determined and competitive, and he loves the sport too much. He's had tendinitis multiple times, and all he does is let it heal, and get right back to what he does best: slaughter people on the tennis court. He's not going to quit until his knees are literally shattered. Plus, he's shown he's good at bouncing back from injuries. Look at 2009. Early exit from RG, skipped Wimbledon and many hard court tournaments before the USO. Then he went on to win 3 of the 4 slams in 2010. He's good at shrugging off injuries and playing through the pain. He's had the injury that's keeping him out now since Indian Wells when he lost to Fed. But he didn't care. The clay court season was coming up, and he was sure as heck not going to sit out of it or Wimbledon. So he pushed himself until it finally caught up with him against Rosol.